Bruce Springsteen Canceled A Show To Stand Up For Transgender Rights

In a statement released via Facebook on Friday, Bruce Springsteen announced he'd be canceling his Greensboro, North Carolina, show scheduled for this Sunday.

He cited North Carolina's recent enactment of the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, which dictates the bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use, as the reason behind the cancellation, saying,

The law also attacks the rights of LGBT citizens to sue when their human rights are violated in the workplace. No other group of North Carolinians faces such a burden. To my mind, it's an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress.

He then acknowledged the residents working to fight the law, saying,

I feel that this is a time for me and the band to show solidarity for those freedom fighters... Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them. It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards.

Posted by Bruce Springsteen on Friday, April 8, 2016

Not only is this a bold move for Springsteen, but it's the responsible one given his wide-ranging popularity and influence.

Considering how much Americans value and spend on entertainment, this is surely a sign we can all expect to suffer if we, as a culture, continue to disenfranchise a sizable portion of the population for ludicrous reasons.